Chapter 4 – On the Edge of Overdosing
Diana wakes up early in the morning and readies herself for another war. She looks out from her balcony and sees her expansive territory and islands under her control. She plays with the looks of the other islands to give them a unique but similar look to her capital island and she can see the people appreciate her for that. Helen enters her room while Diana does this.
“Oh, good morning Helen.”
“Good morning Diana. I can see that you’re fixing your other islands. That’s a great thing to do to increase your reputation as a gracious queen.”
“I do have my moments I guess. Are we ready?”
“Yes, we are. I got up earlier than you did to fly around to the different islands to tell them what our plans are. The individual rulers should be getting their forces together now. The ex-Circus citizens were especially excited to be able to fight again since they have new enhanced abilities.”
“Then I guess it’s our time to head off.”
“After you.”
Like yesterday, Helen and Diana head out on their own, but this time, it’s just the two of them.
“We aren’t bringing any kind of backup?” Diana asks.
“The Pack respects individual strength more than collective. I arranged a meeting between you and their leader, Mina to fight.”
“If we’re fighting the leader right off the bat, then this will an even quicker war than the last.”
“It’s not just going to be a test of strength. It’s a series of challenges.”
“What kind?”
“You’ll see.”
“You don’t know?”
“No, but I’m sure we’ll get through them. They don’t know about our special abilities, so let’s keep them secret until we absolutely need them.”
“Got it.”
Diana and Helen fly to an island called The Proving Grounds by its inhabitants. It’s an island with separate areas that appear to hold different challenges ready for Diana and Helen. Helen lands them in an area where Nina and her citizens are waiting for her. She has the appearance of a dog with pointy ears and even a tail. Her hair and short outfit are brown along with her eye that has the symbol of a spade in it though she does have the same star in her eye as everyone else.
Nina's eyes almost seem to scan the two before she says, "Welcome to our proving ground Diana. I heard you're the wonder woman of your kingdom."
"That's true though I've never heard anyone call me that," Diana says.
"It's the title people have been giving you. Tell me, why did you want to go to war with me?"
"To earn the fear and respect of everyone in this dimension so that they know I'm not someone to mess with."
"I can respect you on that goal alone. You could've just become allies with me."
"But that wouldn't get people's attention as much. Besides, what are your forces compared to mine? They should've taken over a couple of your islands by now."
"I can see that through my ruler's eyes. They're definitely something else. They've already taken over five of my islands and a few islands held by my allies. No wonder why The Circus had trouble with you, but we are not The Circus. You won't take me on through strength alone."
"You have challenges for me, right?"
"That's right, and they aren't physical challenges. Well, one of them is. The three challenges I have test your mind, spirituality, and fighting skill. If you pass them, you can take over this kingdom of mine."
"Deal."
"Let's start with the test of the mind then shall we?"
The area around them encapsulates everyone in it. Little sparkles of light fall from the encapsulation ceiling and gives everyone a kind of peace of mind.
"Are you ready?" Nina asks.
"I'm ready," Diana replies.
"Good."
A scholarly looking girl walks in between them with a book.
She asks them, "As iron sharpens iron, another person sharpens another. Why is this?"
Diana answers, "Each person tests each other's skills and shows them where they need to improve."
Nina answers, "Because both people test their skills against an opponent that will show them the results of their training."
"Next question," the girl says, "To live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often. Why?"
They answer in the same order.
"No one is perfect in the present, so it is important to always change often so that you can constantly improve yourself."
"Things that do not change grow stale and eventually wither away. That is why to change and become better to adapt to your ever-changing environment."
"Final question. The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost. Why?"
"Because if you couldn't lose something, then you'd never have to worry about it. It wouldn't concern you at all and there would be no reason to give it special attention."
"It's just like how life is here in this dimension. No one thinks twice about how valuable life is anymore since you can't actually be killed. We just use our civilians as tools and soldiers as weapons rather than treat them like the human beings that are."
What Nina said bothers a part of Diana. She never truly thought about how her citizens and soldiers really feel since they seem to be happy to serve her. The people who served Rachel, the previous ruler, also seemed happy at first until the queen turned her back. Diana reminds herself to repay her citizens in some big way when this war is over.
"Onto the next challenge," Nina says as the ceiling surrounding the area disappears along with the feeling it gave.
Confused, Diana asks, "What? Who won this challenge?"
"We'll see after the last challenge. Follow me to the next area."
Everyone goes to the next challenge area silently. It appears that Nina and her citizens look like they know they're going to win because of their calm demeanors. Diana looks over to Helen who nods and smiles to signal that's she's doing fine. Diana nods and smiles back though she still feels nervous. The next area they reach is clothed in dark and white light with the grass in the field dying and coming to life in a matter of seconds. This time a magician separates the two and their supporting party.
The magician says, "These two must take their tests separately in a different place. Their souls will determine if they win or lose this challenge."
She then transports the both of their minds to separate places within Nina's dimension. Diana appears in a white area with a single formless person in it. The person takes the form of both of her parents.
They say, "We love you, Diana. Do you love us?"
"Shut up!" Diana yells back at them, "You never loved me!"
The snakes from Diana body attack her parents and cut them in half. They quickly come back together and the formless being makes itself into Helen.
She says, "You always blindly trust me even when I tell you half-truths. You're nothing but a puppet I use to achieve my own goals."
"Liar!"
Again, Diana's snakes split apart the formless being and again, it reforms itself. This time it becomes her troops and civilians. They bow and appear to worship her. Statues of Diana erect themselves out of nothing around her. Someone behind her pulls her onto its lap and she turns her head to find a man who is dressed in snakes like her. He's a handsome man who sits upon a throne made of the bones of a dragon. She lays her smiling face on his chest as he puts his arms over her. She is then transported from this place back to the proving area. An overwhelming sense of guilt fills Diana once she returns. She looks at Nina who appears to be at peace with herself.
Nina turns to look at Diana and asks, "What? You look like a guilty dog."
Nina's citizens smirk and Helen begins to worry as it appears that Diana has lost this challenge. Diana can now feel the darkness within her soul and worries if she's actually been wrong about running away from home to begin with. She isn't sure if Nina is at peace with the darkness within herself or if her soul is somehow better than Diana's.
"Let's go to the final challenge," Nina says.
"R-right," Diana quietly mumbles before following Nina and her people to the next area.
Helen puts her hand on Diana and whispers, "What happened?"
"I don't know. I just feel terrible."
"That's a good thing, right? If you feel guilty, that means you still have a healthy conscience. Nina must not feel any guilt at all that cold-hearted tart. She's known to break people with these challenges. The condition you're in is the best I've seen people in after they take the second challenge. You're going to win."
"I hope so."
The final challenge area is a simple gated arena. The two queens enter it and are instructed to fight each other. A simple fight to the "death" to see who the more powerful ruler is. The two begin to fight. Nina’s fighting style is very martial arts heavy and is better than Diana’s who lets her snakes do most of the fighting. Since she’s already on edge because of the second challenge, Diana uses her enhanced ability and shocks everyone except for Helen of course. Nina is no match for Diana’s gigantic snake and the small snakes that come from its body, which leads to her defeat. The large snake constricts Nina’s poison, paralyzed body and gives Diana the power over Nina’s kingdom. Everyone but Helen is stunned by what happened.
Helen flies over to Diana and announces, “Do you not see who the victor is? Bow down to your true queen!”
Nina’s citizens bow down to Diana as she gains another kingdom. Diana sends Nina to her Heaven to see what her soul looks like and it turns out that Nina’s soul is brighter than every other soul in Heaven. Feeling guilty, she takes Nina out of her Heaven and puts her on one of her new islands to live out her life. There’s another big celebration held for Diana and her forces because of her victory. Her allies are more thankful they’re on her side as she has the most territory out of the closest known kingdoms and the most power. Helen now has the kingdom where she wanted it, so it can flourish and be protected by his high status. Diana enjoys her big celebration for the most part, but she goes to sleep early, still haunted by what the second challenged revealed to her.
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